Letters to the editor Thursday

In response to Nevy Clark's letter chastising Savannah for not turning out in larger numbers for the Moscow Radio Orchestra, I'd like to agree that it was unfortunate that more folks didn't attend.

I don't agree, however, that Savannah doesn't deserve an symphony orchestra.

The Savannah Philharmonic Orchestra, now in its first full season, has presented a total of six concerts in its brief history, and every one of them has been sold out with an average of 1000 patrons. This suggests that there is indeed an audience in Savannah for orchestral music.

We hope that Mr. Clark will attend one of the two remaining orchestral concerts this year and see for himself that Savannah is willing and able to support symphonic music that is both locally produced and world-class quality.

MELISSA EMERY, President, Savannah Friends of Music, Savannah

Circus plays explicit music for kids

I went to the circus at the Civic Center and was angered and disappointed at what I heard.

They played "Right Round" by Flo Rida and "123" by Britney Spears for a children's interactive dance.

This first song is about a man watching and giving money to a stripper. They did not play the edited version, so the children got to listen to a song that not only was about stripping, but had the words "damn" and "[filtered word]" in it. The second song is about a threesome.

Even though I know that 97.3 plays this music all day, I still cannot believe that Barnum & Bailey Circus thought those songs were appropriate for the children to dance to, with a clown who was guiding them.

How tacky and disrespectful!

AMBERLIN HARRISON, Garden City

Public funding for campaigns

It's only three weeks into the New Year and we, the people, are severely suffering from a constant barrage of destructive forces.

While some of these seem to be beyond human control, a large number of the most hurtful, damaging and profoundly negative are purely man-made.

At the very top of this list is the Jan. 21 U.S. Supreme Court ruling which reversed a 100-year effort to try to limit the influence of greedy, fat-cat corporations in our elections process.

The flood gates have been opened wide for the outpouring of rivers of tainted, toxic campaign cash into an already compromised political landscape.

President Obama and Congress now have an opportunity to prove they are true "fighters" for the people, by immediately implementing comprehensive campaign finance reform that includes total public financing of all campaign activities and strict term limits for all elected officials.

KEVIN CLARK, Director, Georgia Equality - Savannah Chapter, Savannah

Bring jobs back to America

The U.S. economy has shed over 6.5 million jobs since the start of the recession. As of Jan. 22, the unemployment rate in Georgia was 10.3 percent and 12.6 percent in South Carolina.

These statistics do not even include the thousands of "discouraged workers" who have given up looking or have had no success in finding a job. During the past decade the manufacturing base has migrated away from the U.S. because of high taxes, strict zoning regulations and infinite bureaucracy.

On the other hand, countries like China, Korea, Hong Kong and many others seem to be inviting U.S. industry with open arms, deferred taxes and cheaper labor. Wal-Mart now buys $18 billion a year from China and "Made in the USA" is fast becoming extinct.

In 1983 the trade deficit with China was $304 million. In 2008 it had grown to $266.3 billion and the total U.S. trade deficit in 2008 was $695.9 billion.

In today's global environment, whoever manufactures products better, cheaper and faster, wins. In order for U.S. companies to compete with the rest of the world, Congress needs to reduce red tape and bureaucracy and get off the backs of American industry so they can compete on an equal footing and stop exporting their plants and jobs overseas.

A young person today who spends a lot of time and money on higher education to become an aeronautical engineer or other professional does not want to become under-employed flipping hamburgers for a living. However, if Congress does not act soon to close our borders to illegal aliens and start to pass legislation that will encourage manufacturing and jobs to return to America, that scenario could become a reality in the future.

PEARCE W. HAMMOND, Okatie, S.C.

Pulaski descendant search missed NY branch

I have read many articles concerning Casimir Pulaski on the Internet. One of them described a search for descendants of the Pulaski family. I am in fact a descendant of the family and can prove this by original documents.

I do not believe the skeletal remains found in Georgia are that of the General(DNA not proven 100 percent). The question I have is: If a search for any relative of Pulaski was truly preformed, how did the researchers miss several of us living in western New York?

RICHARD J. PULASKI, Buffalo, N.Y.

Oil barons withhold Haiti help

On Jan. 21, the Associated Press reported on the international aid efforts rushed to Haiti in the wake of the devastating earthquake. The AP listed 39 countries that had pledged money and various levels of aid ranging from rescue teams, search dogs, medical personnel, food and water, technicians, and other specialists.

Israel was among the first on scene, establishing a field hospital staffed by 150 doctors and rescue workers provided with 10 tons of medical equipment.

In addition to the expected donor nations from the West, Europe, and other industrialized countries, there was an outpouring of support from some surprising sources. Chad, Slovenia, Congo, Grenada, Cambodia, and the British Virgin Islands were among a number of smaller, less affluent nations that promptly responded to this humanitarian crisis.

Glaringly absent from this list were any of the wealthy and powerful Gulf nations, oil rich producers, or Arab or Muslim countries. So what are countries such as Libya, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Qatar, Egypt, and Tunisia doing to relieve the suffering in Haiti?

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How strong was Mr. Clarks' outcry about Acrorn and various Unions
using strong arm and fraudlent tactics during the past presidential
election and against banks and everything else that these people were trying to bring to destruction. Explain to me how the unions and groups like Acorn are any different than corporations donating large funds for their candidates. One uses money and the other uses
muscle to coerce citizenry to vote their way. Fortunately, the majority
of citizens are intelligent to see through all the goop. Those who
want the government to take care of them from cradle to grave will do whatever the unions and Acorn type groups tell them. Those who
oppose unions and the Acorn type groups will fight them to the bitter
end. Also let's be fair about the whole thing....there are tons of people with super mega bucks who have been skirting the laws
for years in their efforts to bring about the demise of the USA.
The latest Supreme Court ruling simply levels the playing field
so that the good guys can defeat the bad guy. And I believe that
is Mr. Clarks' real complaint. The field is no longer tilted in his favor.
Lloyd Eldridge
Midway, Ga.

Mr. Pulaski: My memory is a little foggy now, but as I recall it was a man affiliated with a Polish heritage society in Philadelphia who caused the bones to be exhumed in Monterey Square some years ago. The DNA comparisons were done with some of Count Pulaski's known relatives still living in Poland, is the way I remember things, and I do think the results were inconclusive at the time, though I hear DNA work has now been modernized and much speeded from what was done early-on. To segue into my observation about the recent High Court decision to allow corporations to participate fully in ( read to CONTROL) all US elections in the future, this is an absolute sellout of everything Pulaski and others fought for. This will change America to the very core of her being. We are from this day forward, unless this is changed, a fascist police state. I urge these five 'justices' be suspended from duty, that an unbiased investigation be held and that there be the possibility that they face charges of treason after the investigation, that Congress and Obama work day and night to contain or prohibit this shameful decision from being implemented. Of course the way it is now, all federal-level politicians are in the pay of corporations anyway, but I still like hearing lip-service paid to the notion of 'freedom.' and 'liberty,' and 'the American way.' There will be no need for that anymore once foreign corporations and lobbyists fully take over the US electoral process.

I suppose Mr. Hammond would have us resort to child and slave labor to compete. After all, that's our history.

The US might do better by assuring that goods imported are not made with slave or child labor, as well as assuring that they are not contaminated. Why not start by enforcing the Free Trade Agreement against dumping?

Yes, if we leveled the playing field America could compete, but let's not race to the bottom.

What strikes me about all the criticism of ACORN is that it's been around since before Reagan and yet no one ever heard of them till the last presidential campaign. That is until Glen Beck and his twisted and distorted views on everthing liberal.
Georgians, living in a right to work state and having less than 2% of union workers sure seem to have a bone to pick. Then again when you're happy making 30K a year in a minimally skilled job , why in gods name would you want someone to fight for higher wages and job security. Then again most underskilled people in this state seem to find a way to become "disabled", and live off the dole. Yet maybe even those people decided to support a candidate with a few dollars to help the cause. Well now your few dollars mean jack diddly. Those of meager means now have no say. Unions brought wages in this country up to a livable means. Big corporate America and their political lackies have fought to suppress the wages of workers for over 40 years. I would gladly join a union if it were possible. Then maybe I would have some say about wages, benefits and conditions. Unions have not brought this country to its knees, Greedy corporate barons with no regard for the people or this country have done that damage.

You don't really know about unions. The airline industry, the auto industry, the steel industry, etc etc have been and continue to be
industries destroyed by unions. The unions have a death lock on the federal government employees. So if its a good job you want, with little or no responsibities, go get a government job. It take and act of congress to fire a federal employee. They generally have about 3 people doing what one person can do. I know because I was around them for about 20 years while I was in the military. One
military person could do the same amount of work as it took 3
civilians to do. The unions members get super pay with super
benefits and the people who have to pay for their greed is
the American consumer. How many state, local government people
do you see standing around while 1 or 2 people actually do
the work - more union, less work. You can have your unions and their lazy, greedy ways.

Gee LLoyd seems you had a government job for how long, 20 plus years? Obviously as enlisted. How many dips into the federal pockets do you have? Retirement pay, social security, medicare, medicaid, veterans administration etc., etc. Seems your'e the one riding cradle to grave. I'm sure when you were active duty you had the same opinions of officers too. I spent 5 years in the military, I would not have spent 20 as an enlisted man.
I see why you have animosity against those who made more money, union workers, officers, yet in your eyes did'nt deserve it.

The US has the lowest EFFECTIVE corporate tax rate in the world. How much lower does it need to be? Funny Mr. Hammond mentioned 1983 and the trade deficit with China. 1980, when Reagan took over, started the era of 'de-regulation' and 'free trade'. Guess what? In 1979, the US lead the world in exports of finished manufactured goods. We lead the world in imports of raw materials. We were the world leading CREDITOR meaning, everyone else OWED us money. And, we also had TRADE SURPLUSES! Now, it's the exact opposite: We're LAST in exports of finished goods among industrialized nations. FIRST in exports of raw materials namely, scrap metal. We are the worlds largest DEBTOR nation the world has ever known and yes, our record trade supluses have turned into record trade deficits! So yes, by all means, LET'S HAVE MORE OF THAT, PLEASE! Also, it should be noted that exports have NEVER, NEVER been more than 4% of our GDP! NEVER! Even during the boom times! What's that tell you? It should tell you that we used to consume the stuff we made & we all had a much, much higher standard of living! WE ARE THE WORLD'S MARKET! Why would we or should we open our doors to other countries to dump their junk so they can gain market share and then after their US counterpart goes out of business, jack up the freaking prices! Yeah, let's by all means make it easier for 'patriotic' American companies to set up shop in COMMUNIST China for chrissake! I thought all you conservatives hated communists! I guess that depends on whether or not you can exploit their people, pollute their rivers and air and STILL be able to sell your crap in the US! HYPOCRITES!
And for those of you who continue to bash unions, wake up. You're next! You've obviously NEVER worked in a steel mill, coal mine or auto factory. Guys used to DIE on a daily basis or be maimed for life on a regular basis before unions demanded safer working conditions. So, tell me, how much is your life worth? All you paper pushers out there seem to think you're worth $50K, $60K, $70K per year but the guys that actually keep this country moving don't deserve a pot to [filtered word] in, is that it? You all make me sick! And, for all the military bums out there who put in 20yrs behind a desk to get LIFETIME benefits, you seem to think the guys who build the tanks, bombs, planes, guns, bullets, etc don't deserve the same? HYPOCRITES! Yeah, let's all keep tearing each other down and expect our standards of living to increase! FOOLS! The rich in this country have ALWAYS been about exploiting cheap labor! This country was founded on it! First it was the slaves. Then it was European immigrants, then Mexicans now they just take their factories to COMMUNIST countries like China and Vietnam for their slave labor and that's just hunky-dory with all of you BRAINDEAD FOOLS! Now, law firms are outsourcing para-legal work to India. Engineering firms and manufacturers are outsourcing engineering to India and China. A large savannah based manufacturer did just this not too long ago! Think it won't happen to you? Think again, sucker! Do you people not realize that there was no middle class in this country prior to 1950 and that the creation of the middle class was solely the result of hard fought labor standards by the unions and New Deal programs implemented under FDR? Yeah, the GI Bill was a NEW DEAL program. Economists call it the 'GREAT COMPRESSION'. Look it up, dummies. But, you're just fine giving all of those hard fought gains back to the corporations thinking in their never ending benevolence that they will take care of you, 'cradle to grave'!? Do you not realize you're trading one master for another? If gov't doesn't work, what makes you think corporate America works since both are run and controlled BY THE SAME PEOPLE!

In horse racing, when a horse that is a good runner but has a problem keeping up with the competition when they are running
neck to neck, the trainer puts blinders on the horse so it can't see
the horse next to him/her. Union people are pretty much the same
way, they hate competition so they stifle it. Southwest airline, a
non-union airline, does not charge for baggage, whereas the
union airlines charge an arm and a leg. Wage and benefit demands by unions forces companies to increase costs. As in all fairy tales,
once upon a time applies to the unions - once upon a time they
were a good thing until greed took control. Now the Supreme
Court protects out rights in ways the unions aren't willing to.
My parents were union members and when I was in high school
we had many heated discussions about the worth of unions.
The military people are not just desk jockies sucking a living
from the citizens, rather they are protectors and make bigger
sacrifices than most jobs demand. How many other jobs ask you
to put your life on the line besides the military, police and
firefighters? At least the policeman and fireman get to come home
to their families after their shifts are over (if they choose too). Many
military men and women have to leave their families behind to
serve their country in foreign lands and especially when they
have to fight a war.
Two things I won't and never will trade is my right to my
opinion and my right to vote. I don't need some union boss telling
me how I need to vote so I can keep some idiot in office that
will spend my country into oblivion, while sucking up to the unions
and giving them everything they want - within the limits of that
official's power. The current government stole from the General Motors shareholders and gave their rights to the unions, it also wants and is attempting to exempt the unions from taxes that the non-union citizens will have to pay on their health care plans - if
the health care plan is passed as it stands.
In my humble opinion - unions are poison and drain on the
economy of the livelyhood of non-union citizens. Once upon a
time......

How easy it is to make false assumptions. I have no animosity what so ever. I chose the make the military a career and I loved every
minute of it. I wouldn't trade it for any other job in the world. Besides all the sacrifices a 20 year military man has to make beside money - mainly family separations, they were well worth it and I'd do it all over again. It's something you wouldn't understand or couldn't tolerate since you only spent 5 years in the service. However, after 20 years in the service, I have spent the next 30 plus years working and earning what social security I do get. My military retirement pay is less than what the trucking industry's retirement pay is to their drivers. There are other jobs that pay a retirement after 20 years that are better than what the military personnel get, and they don't have to make the sacrifices the military people have to make or put their life on the line. These people also draw social security on top of their retirement pay from their career job. Congress personnel come to mind. You gripe sounds, to me, like that of a socialist who believes that everyone should get the same
no matter how much or how little they contribute.

Dear Lloyd,
Seems you've done a whole lot of living, but not a whole lot of learning. First of all I suggest you quit watching Fox Noise. The obvious talking points are annoying. My parents could not afford to send me to college so I joined the Navy to get the GI bill and do it on my own. I understood that I could not tolerate making [filtered word] for wages and putting up with the bureaucracy that you chose to accept. I used the GI Bill to get my degree and have enjoyed the wages henceforth. I work for one of the largest employers in Savannah. We come to work each day hoping that our key still opens the door to our lab. We have no representation as workers. As a highly paid professional I respect my position yet we have no rights. Each year our benefits cost more for less, get no cost of living increase, and no merit wage increase. In the last 20 years I've watched my wages stagnate while corporate barons rob us blind. You Mr. Eldridge can hate on the unions but I would gladly have some sort of employee wedge that I could use. You claim to love your country because you served it with all the sacrifices that you endured. Yet it seems now you are ignorant to what the the working class has endured, yet you willingly listen to the corporate media and place blame on a selected few. Wake up old man, Rupert Murdoch and his News Corp. has you right where he wants. Hate the government, yet succumb to plutocracy.

pdoug3 you should take a long hard look at what you have written.
You sound like everything you accuse me of. You writings show me
that you are very bitter person and that your use of the GI Bill is apparently a waste of taxpayer money.

so, folks that actually produce something of value in this country, auto workers, steel workers, coal miners, electricians, etc etc don't deserve to make a decent living, health care and pension but, I'm sure you, Mr. Eldridge, feel you are probably underpaid or at least worth every penny. Is that right? So, making $25/hr, which is hardly even enough to support a family of four in this country (but, the right-wingers are always talking about preserving the family... on what, $10/hr!?) is too much for a guy/gal risking their life in a mill, and yes Lloyd, it is very dangerous work not to mention unhealthy work, but a guy/gal pushing papers for a living, they deserve what, $50k/yr? $60k/yr? So, tell me Lloyd, how much do you think these folks should make? Maybe we should all just go into the military like you did? And, let me tell you, the BS about defending rights and protecting the country and blah blah are a bunch of crap. There hasn't been a legitimate war fought by this country since WWII. And, prior to that and after, most wars are fought for nothing more than empire. We had to liberate nicaragua for Dole and make China safe for Standard Oil. We invaded Haiti, Grenada, Mexico dozens of times, the Philippines, Honduras, Vietnam, Hawii for chrissake, Iraq twice etc etc for what? To protect Americans? To protect free speech? Give me a break. You're probably one of these people that screams all the time for the gov't to get off your back and we gotta cut income taxes while you've based your entire life on taxpayer money! And, don't give me this, 'But I earned it. I worked hard. I defended the country.' Bull. As easy as it is for you to say that steel workers and truck drivers make too much money, I can say that people like you need to quit using the gov't/military as a crutch and try making it on your own in the private sector. See how easy that was! And, as far as your competition argument goes, I say BULL! Unions aren't afraid of competition. What they want is a fair contest. Why should American workers have to compete with communist slaves. I assume you are against communism since you 'fought' to defend us from it for 20 yrs. But, you're ok with sending our factories and jobs there, right? Nice. That make a hell of a lot of sense. They also shouldn't have to compete with currency manipulation and import duties and product dumping that developing countries engage in all the time but, that seems to be lost on you as well. The American worker is STILL the MOST productive worker IN THE WORLD by far. If the playing field is level, there is no one that can stand up to us. So, I ask you again, how much are YOU worth. How irreplaceable do you think YOU are? Because, I guarantee you I could find some poor slob in India who is smarter than you are and willing to do your job for 1/3 of what you make. The demise of unions in this country directly corresponds with the decline in living standards for all Americans. It directly corresponds to the destruction of the family since now both parents have to work to make up for the loss in wages. People like you, I'm sure, scream all the time about parents who don't mind their kids and kids who have to morals or values, etc but you don't see the connection between two? You want to bring this country back? You want to get kids off the streets, get them learning again, get parents involved again, and generally make society a better and safer place? Then you need to support unions who will fight for a wage and benefits where only one parent, the man of the house, has to work full time and the other, the mother the nurturer, gets to stay home and take care of her kids, make sure they do their work and stay off the streets. But, keep on supporting the greedy owners, the true elites of this society and their quest for cheaper and more disposable labor and well, you see where we are now. It's gotten so bad now that like you, 58% of the US depends directly on the gov't for their means of living. So economists predict, that if manufacturing isn't saved here soon, that by 2018, 67% of all Americans will be dependant on the gov't in one way or another for their means of making a living. I guess everybody will be in the military in the near future! Does that sound like a recipe for success or disaster? And, answer me this, Mr. Eldrigde, please, why is it that people like you disparage working class folks in this country for fighting for decent wages and benefits but when Wall St. and corporate fat cats walk away with millions for doing nothing but robbing people blind, your attitude is, 'Hey. Those guys earned it. Get off their backs! They have a right! They have to pay for talent! We don't have any right to criticize how much they make!'? Can you answer that for me, please. Because it really puzzles me how right-winger can be so indifferent to rediculous wages for those who really do nothing but push paper but a guy putting his life on the line in a steel mill or coal mine (and yes they do. I lost several friends in the steel mills up north and know several others who are crippled.) isn't worth $25/hr? I guess the only ones who are allowed to partake in the American Dream are the owners of our society? And, let me tell you, GM, Ford all of them, made TONS of money with highly skilled union labor for a century. GM had $50billion in CASH on hand when they opened GMAC. Problem is, they [filtered word] IT AWAY doing stupid crap like spending $8billion on a Cadillac plant IN CHINA! Now, how many Caddies do you think the Chinese will buy? It's all short term profit to pump up stock prices and who gives a crap what happens 5 yrs from now. THAT is why our country is screwed because the whole [filtered word]house has been run that way for the last 40 yrs! Short term profit for the fat cats at the long term expense of working Americans. Until right-wingers like you can see that, we're all doomed to indentured servitude.

Vietnam Vet with a cardboard sign
Sitting there by the left turn line
Flag on the wheelchair flapping in the breeze
One leg missing, both hands free
No one's now paying much attention to him
The V.A.'s budget's stretched way too thin
Now there's more comin' home from the Afghan war
We can't make it here anymore

That big ol' building was a textile mill
It fed our kids, it paid our bills
But they shut us out then they closed the doors
We can't make it here anymore

See all those pallets piled on the loading dock
They're just gonna sit there 'till they rot
'Cause there's nothing to ship, nothing to pack
Just busted old concrete and rusted old track

Empty storefronts all around the square
There's needles in the gutter and glass everywhere
You don't come down here 'less you're looking to score
We can't make it here anymore

The bar's still open but man it's slow
The tip jar's light and the register's low
The bartender don't have much to say
The regular crowd gets thinner everyday

We've have maxed out our credit cards
Those working, work two jobs and are livin' in cars
Minimum wage won't pay
For a roof these days,
Won't pay for a bed no way
If you gotta have proof just try it yourself Mr. CEO
See how far 7.10 an hour will go
Take a part time job at one of your stores
Bet you can't make it here anymore

There's a High school girl with a bourgeois dream
Just like the pictures she saw in People magazine
She found on the floor of a laundromat
A woman with kids can forget all about that
If she comes up pregnant, what'ill she do
Forget the career, forget about school
Can she hope for change or live on hope
Get high on Jesus or hooked on dope
When it's way too late to just say no
We can't make it here anymo'e

Now we're stocking shirts at the local Wal-Mart store
Just like the ones we made before
'Cept these ones come from Singapore
I guess we can't make it here anymore

Should I hate a people for the shade of their skin
Or the shape of their eyes for the shape I'm in
Should I hate 'em for having our jobs today
No I hate the men that sent those jobs away
I can see them all now, they haunt my dreams
All lily white and squeaky clean
They've never known want they'll never know need
Their $#!+ don't stink and their kids won't bleed
Their kids won't bleed in that dam Afghan war
And we can't make it here anymore

We'll work for food, we'll die for oil
They'll kill for power and take the spoils
The millionaires get to pay less tax
While working poor fall through the cracks

Let 'em eat jellybeans let 'em eat cake
Let 'em eat $#!+ whatever it takes
They can join the Army, or join the Corps
If they can't make it here anymore

And that's how it is that's what we got
If the president wants to admit it or not
You can read it in the paper read it on the wall
Hear it on the air If you're interested at all
Get out of that limo get off that bimbo
Call us on your iPhone look us in the eye
Dare tell us all why
In Dayton, Ohio Or Portland, Maine
Or a cotton gin out on the great high plain
That's done closed down along with the school
As well as the hospital and the swimming pool
Dust devils dance in the noonday heat
There's rats in the alley
And trash in our streets
Gang graffiti on boxcar doors
We can't make it here anymore

My mother was 'posed to return last week
Promises the Pentagon didn't keep
We gotta keep fightin the rich man's war
Ta keep the oil flowing to our shore
We can't make it here anymore

Please explain to me why
Ol' Lady Liberty crys
The Great American Dream
is notin' but lies

I can only presume that this is your attempt at a rap song. I have no
limo, having only a kia rio. My after military jobs were mainly as
assistant manager at a fast food place where I made about $400
a week for a 50 hour week and no benefits for a wife and 6 children.
Yet, we made it and didn't cry about it or go looking for "Uncle Sam"
to put food on the table and provide shelter. My parents taught us
that it was OUR responsibility to make our way through life - NOT
the goverment or charity organizations responsibility. We all can
find something to [filtered word] about, but instead of bitching and wasting the
time and energy doing the bitching, I choose to make the most of
what I have and thank God for what I do have. Yeah, I'd like to be
a billionaire and never have a worry, but I choose being happy
living life - it could always be worse than what I have, but, again,
I choose not to let that happen. If people would stop worrying
about what other people have more than they do, stop being
jealous of other peoples lives, they just might get further ahead and
even be happy. The Bible does say do not covert thy neighbors
goods, wife etc. Problem today is people like you, by your writing,
do covert what others have instead of working to obtain for
yourself what you'd like for your life, even if it means making some
sacrifices, getting a better education, determining just what it is
that you are best qualified to do, and then doing the best you
can at what you are best qualified to do - without worrying what
the next guy has. I can't, he can't and you can't live another's
life. Plus I don't want to be anyone else, I like me because that
is how God made me, if He wanted me to be someone else, then
that is the person I'd have been/be.

For BenBama and fattkid.....it's hard to not notice your reference to
"all lily white and squeeky clean". Obviously you are totally unaware
of the multitude of extremely wealth blacks, chinese, hindu and other
races. BET is owned by an extremely wealthy man, Tiger Woods is and extremely wealthy man, pro sports have tons of extremely wealth men (and most of them are black or asian), just to name
a few. From your perspective, I guess these people are all shiney
black and squeeky clean" and their kids do not bleed nor do their kids fight in Iraq and other wars. So if that is the case - just who is
fighting the war. I can tell you, they're not all white, they're not
all black, they're not all male, they're not all female - they ARE
a mix of volunteers who chose to serve their country instead
of whining about how bad their lives are. They go in the service
and they get a great education learning a profession, not just how
to shoot a firearm. Your letter tells me you want to make this
all about race. You need to get over that, the vast majority of the
world has moved on to using their time and energy in
more constructive ways. When you use the race card, you are
using a worn out deck of cards.

you're telling ME not to worry about what other people make or have but you're the one bitching about unions? LOL! I guess the hypocrisy of that arguement is lost on you. These are not people looking for a handout or gov't assitance. They are very much people who worked VERY hard, 16 hr days, 7 days a week, holidays, you name it, if very adverse working conditions and fought for everything they had. But, YOU are the one who wants to disparage them for doing so. These folks have also LOST most of the pension money they worked for, lost health benefits, etc all so some fat cat could line his pocket. YOU do not have to worry about anything like that because YOU are dependant on the GOVERNMENT for your retirement, etc. But, you claim that they're the ones asking for a handout?! PLEASE! It seems to me, you are the one coveting someone elses standard of living or at least decrying the fact that they are making, or were making I should say, than you did. Why don't you take your own advice and quit worrying about the unions then? If they're so bad and corrupt, why do so many want a chance to organize only to have corporations pay Congress to pass laws that put hurdles in their way?

Also, that song is either by Bruce Springsteen or Willie Nelson, can't remember and you're the one making it about race, not us. I never said one word about race. But, I'm sure you think the only people who need gov't assistance in this country are lazy blacks, right? Typical. You'll cut your own nose off to spite your face just so some black person somewhere doesn't get a handout.

You are like so many people who like to twist and turn what people say by adding things people don't say. I could care less how much any one, including union people, makes. I do care that the basis
of the union is greed and is the result of many companies going
out of business because they couldn't meet all the demands of
the unions. In come cases, the union actually recinded their
demands when they realized that it would force the company
out of business, so they opted for reasonableness rather than
no job at all. Other times they didn't care and the business went
out of business, so the members lost their jobs. Union members
are the best paid people, but it's the consumers who is always
left holding the bag for the increases in union wages. Maybe
your type person should take a course in economics and learn
that there are limits and just what effects are and who is effected
by uncontrolled wage hikes. The "fat cats" you speak of are the
people who are risking THEIR money to keep business afloat.
But I suppose that you could care less about that just so long
as you get what you want without having to risk anything.
Every job has inhirent dangers and risks to life and limb, not
just union jobs. There are millions of people that have to work
up to 18 hours a day. But they always have a choice, quit
bitching about the hours and find another job or accept the
fact that they chose that line of work and its difficulties.
I was not the one who entered race into the topic, you two did
with your "lily white" remark, even if it was a "quote", as you
claim, from a song. You used that quote to get your point across.
And you use cheap shots based on your own beliefs by trying to
pin in on the other guy. There are millions of white, hispanic, black,
and other races who are living on the welfare programs. I don't have
a problem with that, but you must since you brought it up. If you want
to keep discussing thing with me, you need to stop trying to put your words in my mouth. I can speak for me, all by myself. You have accused me of everything under the sun, and yet I have not accused you of something other that what has come out of your own mouth.

did you not two posts earlier lump me in with some 'lily white' comment in a post that I did not even make? i could say, 'you started it' but, that'd be pointless, wouldn't it.
So, name me one business that went under because of a union. It's the popular right-wing talking point to say so but, they've been trying to tear down working class people in this country for the last 100 yrs. I suppose you think all these 'American' companies who run to China and Vietnam and Indonesia to set up sweat-shops using child slave labor wouldn't do the same here given the chance? why, because they care about us so much? LOL! I've also got another bit of news for you, fat cats don't risk their money in business ventures. They use YOUR money. They get it from 'financial institutions' who use a nice little gimmick called 'fractional reserve banking' to literally print money and give it to businesses and consumers at interest. Also, capital structures and limited liability clauses for corporations almost guarantee that the fat cats never have any real skin in the game. when they run a company into the ground for short term profit, as is the business model du jor with hedge funds/etc in America today, they walk away with millions and the workers lose everything. Many of the largest hedge funds/corporate raiders targeted successful manufacturing operations JUST to get at the huge pension funds they were holding/managing so they could pocket that cash and walk away. And, our corporate laws make it a legal theft. In todays capital structure, employees/pension funds are LAST on the totem pole. Everyone else gets paid first, investors, executives, bankers etc and IF there is anything left, the workers but, ususally, there isn't anything left by the time they are done. And, if your company is big enough, the taxpayer will bail you out! The game is rigged, my friend. It's rigged for the investor class to get filthy rich and to hell what happens to everyone else. They don't care about America and couldn't care less if we go down because, they are multi-national. Ask any Wall St. tycoon or corporate executive, in a moment of candor mind you, what they think of the US and they'll tell you flat out, there is no US. There are no countries anymore, period. Corporations are the new nation states and they make all the rules. This may be fine by you but, corporations are not democratic institutions, they are dictatorships. So, if you and the rest of the right-wingers would like to trade our gov't that is supposed to be of, by and for the people for a corporate dictatorship, then go ahead and try. But, the rest of us who know better are not going to stop fighting for our right to earn a decent living, fight to save our democracy from the corporate plutocrats and we're not going to apologize for it either.

It must be nice to be able to live in the 18th century democratic hypocrisy and think you are living in the 21st century. I've always
heard that ignorance is bliss and you statement is total ignorance,
so you must be one blissful .....